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Can you picture that feeling when you’re about to say something stupid, something you know it would be best for you not to say, and yet you say it anyway? For some reason your brain has already processed the “I’m going to say this even though I shouldn’t” information and there’s no way back?

A classic example would be when you’re walking through the cashier of a cafeteria, just after having paid for your lunch, as the cashier mechanically snaps you a “bon appetit” before switching to his next customer. The one thing you know about the guy is that he’s working, so he's probably not about to have lunch. There’s absolutely no reason for you to answer “you too”. Yet somehow, there's a split second when you’re both fully aware of that and conscious that you’re going to say it anyway. And you say it anyway.

Another great example features a friend of mine (who I shall henceforward call Bob for confidentiality purposes) and a girl we know (who I shall henceforward call Berta for I-don’t-remember-her-name purposes). Berta is not so slim a girl. Bob is not so shrewd a guy. And, as Berta enters a room carrying an enormous sports bag, Bob knows he’s about to say just the wrong thing before he loudly articulates: “Jeez Berta, that’s a really big bag you’re carrying; it’s almost as big as you are”. Bob knows he has unwillingly offended not-so-slim Berta, so his brain races to find a way to clear his mess. Unfortunately, the same feeling of powerlessness strikes him just before he adds “I mean it’s really huge!”. Poor Berta…

Why am I telling you this? Well, because this is how I sometimes feel about this experience. I know I’m doing something stupid, and yet, somehow, there’s absolutely no way for me to stop doing it. I’m the guy about to answer “bon appetit” to the cafeteria’s cashier. I’m Bob about to compare the impressive size of Berta’s bag to the equally impressive size of Berta. I know I probably shouldn’t be doing this, and yet I’m doing it anyway…